It would be almost impossible to fabricate season 4 of the popular Netflix Series Drive to Survive without having it as nail biting as the 2021 Formula 1 campaign itself unfolded. We will find out if the editors and producers did the season justice soon enough after reports on the latest instalment of the docu-series will grace our television screens in early March.
If you are new to the sport, Formula 1 viewership was in a downward spiral after the dull sounding hybrid-era kicked off in 2014 and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team made the most of the regulation changes, dominating since its inception. Highly aerodynamic cars made overtaking difficult while the standard Mercedes 1-2 would end anticlimactic race days.
This all changed after the popular Netflix Series Drive to Survive first aired in 2019 and served as a gateway into watching the top flight of motorsport for many. While the racing for championships remained equally as predictable as before (for the most part), the series gave a dramatic insight into the behind the scenes of teams, drivers and all those involved in the travelling circus.
The 2021 Formula 1 season unfolded in dramatic fashion as title protagonists Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton went blow for blow into the last race where the Dutchman triumphed and ended the streak of the dominant Mercedes AMG Petronas driver.
This rivalry that stemmed the season will undoubtedly be the focal point of the new series. The 24 year old Red Bull Racing driver ended the season off with the most victories (10), most podiums (18), most laps led with 652 in comparison to the Britons 297 and ultimately was crowned World Champion after the Mercedes team was unable to respond to a bold strategy call from Red Bull in the closing stages of the ultimate race after expecting to finish under the safety car.
A report by ESPN stated that the 2021 season had an average viewership of 931,000 which is 53% higher than 2020 and 40% higher than 2019. It must have been difficult to single out a few incidents throughout the year to feature in the upcoming episodes with each race seemingly a potential candidate for the Popular Netflix Series. Season 4 will air on the 11th of March, 9 days before the 2022 season opener at the Bahrain International Circuit.
